The narrator returns home to care for his father and then returns to Tokyo to complete a thesis for his university course. The narrator receives a message from his mother, warning that his father has fallen sick. She hints that there is a dark secret in his past, which Sensei does not want to discuss. The relationship with Shizu means a great deal to the narrator, though he notes that Shizu seems equally confused by some of her husband’s behavior. He is young and inexperienced he admits to not knowing much about women. The narrator finds Sensei at the graveyard, but Sensei refuses to explain whose grave he visits so regularly, or why he refuses to bring his wife, Shizu, with him.ĭuring these months, the narrator gradually becomes friends with Shizu as well as Sensei. He visits Sensei’s house, only to be told that he is at a nearby graveyard. After leaving the beach resort and returning to Tokyo, the narrator decides to visit his new friend. The wise, emotionally distant Sensei has an academic air to him, which intrigues the young student narrator. He meets Sensei while on vacation and begins to develop a deep friendship with the man, even though he cannot quite define Sensei’s character. He chooses to refer to his new friend by the title Sensei to preserve his anonymity. In Part 1, the unnamed narrator of Kokoro describes his first encounter with an older man. There were many times when I felt I lived utterly alone, remote and cut off from the world around me.This guide uses an eBook version of the 2010 Penguin Books edition, translated into English by Meredith McKinney.Ĭontent Warning: This novel and guide contain frequent references to suicide.

But it’s within your power to help her understand, I thought, and yet you’re too cowardly to do so, and I grew still sadder. In my heart, though, I was saddened that the person I loved and trusted most in the world could not understand me. “Whenever my wife asked what the point of my study was, I responded with a bitter smile.

I would love to hear others’ thoughts on this and attached is one of my favorite quotes If you haven’t had a chance to read it I cannot recommend it enough. I honestly feel like I’ve been punched in the gut.

But the novel concludes with Sensei’s testament. I was reading this on the subway and I thought that the main character would manage to get back and visit his Sensei’s wife at the very least. I think what really struck me about Kokoro is the ending. And I found it to be pleasantly a little bit easier to read than the aforementioned title. I had originally started reading this book after I finish No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai.

Kokoro soseki